Microchip's 14-pin PIC16F616/610 and the 8-pin PIC12F615/609 microcontrollers can substantially reduce system component counts and costs through the integration of specialized peripherals, such as a full-bridge Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) with deadband control, a Timer1 Gate for pulse width measurement, a comparator for hall-effect sensor interfaces, and an A/D converter for temperature and various monitoring functions.
In the case of the PIC16HV616/610 and PIC12HV615/609 variants, the addition of an internal shunt regulator allows the PIC microcontroller to run from higher voltage rails without the addition of voltage regulators.
Engineers designing small-motor control systems are always looking for ways to eliminate components and reduce board size and cost, while achieving higher levels of functionality and flexibility. For example, in cooling fans, the PIC16F616/610 and PIC12F615/609 Flash microcontrollers provide greater functionality than discrete fan-control components, such as linear speed control, improved dynamic response and the ability to customize the design with firmware changes rather than expensive hardware redesigns.
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